


I Can Do Magic?

by Lunatic_Shipper



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Badass Dipper Pines, F/F, Good Sister Mabel Pines, Human Bill Cipher, I LOVE THIS IDEA, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I wrote this on Wattpad first, Imma stop tagging now, M/M, Mabel isn't selfish in this basically, Magic Dipper Pines, Supportive Mabel Pines, and maybe a description of it, but like worse and shorter, don't hate me for that tag i like her but she is selfish, slight mention of torture, the pines twins are turning 18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-10-24 06:14:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20701274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatic_Shipper/pseuds/Lunatic_Shipper
Summary: Dipper and Mabel are back in the Falls for their 18th birthday. But Bill isn't at the shack when they get there.





	1. Chapter 1

It's been four years since Weirdmageddon. Bill came back a year afterwards, much to the town's dismay. But technically, as only Dipper knew for that year, he never really left.

Dipper found out that Bill's dimension was bad and empty. When he figured that out he started seeing it from Bill's perspective. While he has no doubts that Bill is crazy anyway, he figured he'd probably want to get out as well if he was in Bill's place. He started to pity the demon and allowed him to attach himself onto Dipper's consciousness rather than having him be destroyed in Stan's mind. He still had to put a projection of himself in his mind so he was weakened considerably. The first couple of months were difficult, because Bill was both still angry at the Pine's family for trying to destroy him and thankful to Dipper for saving him. He asked the teen why he saved him after a few months. Dipper, not seeing the point in lying as Bill was literally inside his head, told him the truth. That he was still angry at him for trying to kill his family and take over his dimension, understood that solitude makes people insane and that he probably would do the same, or at least something similar if the roles were reversed. It took a year for Bill's power to be restored, but he waited until Dipper and Mabel went back to Gravity Fall's to leave Dipper's head.

Naturally, his family were angry at Dipper for allowing Bill to stay in this dimension. Until something happens. Dipper made an excellent point that not even Ford had realised. It happened during another argument the week Bill came back. "Dipper. Why did you even think it would be a good idea?" Dipper sighs and looks up at his grunckle. "I don't know okay? But he would have come back one way or another. "Yes you may have destroyed him by wiping Stan's mind. But what happened _immediately_ after that?" Ford looks down at his nephew. "He got his memory back...." Dipper nods his head quickly. "Exactly! And since he got _all _of his memories back, it means that he also got back his memories of Bill meaning that he was no longer wiped from existence." He doesn't wait for Ford's response and just leaves the room, to find Bill waiting outside of it, clearly listening in. The demon just laughs and follows Dipper up to the attic. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for Pinetree." Dipper doesn't respond and just sits down on his bed. 

About a month after Bill's return, he remakes the journals that he destroyed during Weirdmageddon and gives them to Ford as a peace offering. Ford accepts them wearily before scanning through them. Seeing that everything was as it was, even Bill's scribbles on the sides of some of the pages, and Dipper's entries to he sets them down on his desk. "How? I thought you destroyed these?" Bill shrugged slightly, waving his cane around. "I memorized them before destroying them." Ford nods as the demon floats out of his room.

None of Dipper's family trusted the demon, nor have they completely forgiven him. But it was hard to hate him completely when he seems to be genuinely thankful to Dipper for saving him. They even seem to be becoming friends making it even harder to hate the dream demon. Mabel however, was the first person to come around. She noticed that while Bill is still insane, he has mellowed out a lot compared to when he was trying to kill them all. She watched the two one afternoon before cautiously joining their conversations the next day. Within a week Mabel was giving Bill stickers along with everyone else. Stan and Ford however, were nowhere close to forgiving him. They weren't going to do anything to him unprovoked, because that would upset both Dipper and Mabel now. But they were both keeping an eye on him. And asked Soos to do so once the teens left that summer. 


	2. Back to the Falls, Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel return to Gravity Falls for their 18th birthday

It's been three years since Bill came back now. Since then, Dipper and Bill have gotten even closer. Bill created himself a human body the second summer after his return, which Dipper did no find attractive in the slightest. Speaking of Bill's attractiveness, Dipper has realised that he's gay, while his sister Mabel, is bisexual.

The teens are sat in their usual seats at the back of the bus to Gravity Falls. Dipper is sat in the window seat with his headphones in reading Journal 3 for what must be the thousandth time. Ford had relinquished ownership of them over to him when they went home that first summer after Bill's return. Mabel is sat next to him, eagerly watching the trees go past them, waiting for their stop. While rereading one of the pages Dipper notices something that he hasn't before, it looks like a spell. Before he can look into it anymore, Mabel taps him on the shoulder. "Put your book away Dip Dop we're nearly there." Dipper just nods and puts the journal back into his backpack, making a mental note to check out that spell sometime soon. Mabel puts her phone away and leads the way off the bus. The two grab their suitcases from the luggage compartment under the bus and watch it for a second as it drives away. Dipper leaves one of his earphones in but turns it down so that he can hear Mabel talking properly. Mabel looks around the bus stop for their Grunkles or Soos, as usually one of them will meet them at the bus stop. Dipper sees his sisters shoulders drop in disappointment and tries to cheer her up "Come on Mabel, maybe they just didn't realise what day it was." Mabel nods her head slightly, smiling again. "Yeah! Come on Dipper. Let's go." Dipper nods and follows his sister as she starts walking towards the forest, the shortest way to the shack. 

It was early evening by the time the two get to the shack. They unlock the door to see their Grunkles and Soos in the living room. "Hey kids." Stan says, almost absentmindedly. "Wait kids?" The two drop their suitcases at the door and move into the living room. "What day is it today?" Dipper laughs and pokes Mabel in the side. "See? I told you." Mabel smiles at him before turning back to the three. "Have you Doods eaten?" They both shake their heads. "Well there isn't enough food for all of us. So how do you feel about pizza." Mabel cheers loudly, causing Dipper to laugh again. "Dipper. Go wake up the demon, see what he wants." Dipper nods and heads to the stairs. "Where is he?" Stan grumbles at him. "Where do you think he is? He's asleep in your room." Dipper nods, picks up his suitcase and heads up to the attic. The summer they turned 16, Mabel moved into the room where all the wax figures where. Which they spent about a week cleaning, dusting and setting up. Dipper walks past Ford, Stan and Mabel's rooms before making it to the attic. He opened the door to see the demon-turned-human lying on the bed he never uses, Dipper sleeps on the giant beanbag on the floor. He drops his suitcase down on the floor before flicking Bill's forehead. "Bill. Want pizza?" Bill shakes his head and murmurs that he's not hungry. Dipper sighs at the blonde. "When was the last time you ate Bill?" Bill thinks for a second before shrugging. "You're sharing my pizza." He leaves and heads back downstairs. "He'll share with me." Soos nods and scrolls down the menu. "Pepperoni as usual?" Dipper nods. "Yeah. Thanks Soos." The 5 wait in the living room until the pizza comes. Mabel and Stan are playing poker, Soos is watching TV with Ford and Dipper. Well Dipper is half watching TV, half watching his sister cheat at poker, knowing full well that Stan is cheating as well. When the pizza finally arrives it comes to no ones surprise that Dipper is sent to go get it. He drops the boxes on the floor before heading for the stairs. "I'll go grab Bill." No one really responds all too absorbed in their pizza. When Dipper arrives in his room he sees Bill flicking through a journal. It only takes him a second to realise that it was one of _his_. The book is blue with silver corners and a silver Pinetree in the middle. He's been working on a journal of his own for a year now. But their isn't too much in the one he's flicking through. "Bill!" The demon looks up to the teen. "Oh hey Pinetree. I'm flattered by the way. A whole 5 pages on me." Dipper blushes and snatches it out of Bill's hand. "Food." Bill laughs at Dipper's embarrassment and stands up. He leans over the brunette using the height difference to his advantage. Dipper blushes deeper and pushes Bill away. "Come on. You need to eat. You look like you haven't eaten in a week." Bill rolls his eyes and follows Dipper downstairs. "Good to see you Shooting Star." Mabel looks up at the nickname. "Hey Bill!" Bill chuckles slightly as Dipper hands him a couple slices. "Eat." Bill sits down in front of the TV and does as he's told. "Yes Pinetree." Mabel snickers at the interaction before turning back to her game with Stan. Once all of them had finished their pizza Stan claps his hands. "Right. Head to bed you two. You're helping Soos stock and clean the shop tomorrow." The twins groan but do as their told. Mabel picks her suitcase off of the floor to finally take to her room. Bill follows Dipper up to the attic. Bill flops onto the bed and closes his eyes to go back to sleep, while Dipper changes into his pj's. Which is really just some checkered bottoms and an old shirt. He pulls his backpack towards him and pulls out the first journal. He also pulls out, _his_ journal and a pen. He flips to the page he saw the spell on, and reads it again. He notices the language as Latin an is suddenly glad he brought his Latin dictionary with him. He jots the spell into his own journal before pulling out a regular notebook and starting to translate it, so that he knows what it does. Dipper grasps onto the necklace he's wearing as he does so. It was a present from bill last year for their birthday, it has a Pinetree charm on it. He grabs the journal and a hoodie before leaving his room. He heads down stairs to hear Stan and Ford talking in the kitchen. He pulls the door open quickly and runs out because as soon as they leave and enter the living room they'll see him. He walks to the start of the trees in front of the shack and sits behind one, with his back resting against the trunk, facing away from the shack.

He reads the incantation three more times before working up the energy to look stupid when he fails. He takes a deep breath and reads it aloud. "_Clarus palma flamma._" As soon as he says it a small flame appears in his hand. He repeats it and the flame starts burning brightly. He panics slightly and slams his hand down on the grass hoping it will extinguish the flame. It does. He takes a deep breath before doing it again. "_Clarus palma flamma._" The flame sparks to life instantly. Larger than before. He stares into the flame for a few seconds. The seconds turn into minutes. He snaps out of his staring after about 5 minutes, he closes his hand to put the flame out before picking up his journal again and heading back to the shack. He quietly makes his way back up to the attic where he sees Bill sat up on the bed. "Where'd you go Pinetree?" Dipper shrugs his hoodie off and drops onto his beanbag, dropping his journal under his back. "Nowhere. Just wanted some air." Bill narrows his eyes at him. Dipper just ignores him and curls up on his bean bag, making sure to keep his journal covered. _'I wonder if Grunkle Ford can do magic like this.'_ He doesn't give it much thought and allows his exhaustion to wash over him.

He wakes up to see Bill still asleep on the bed. Dipper gets up and winces slightly, his rib hurts, but that's probably what he gets for sleeping on a hardcover book. He sighs and drops it into his bag before getting dressed. Once he was dressed Mabel bursts into the room, her only warning, two quick raps on the door. "Come on Dipper! Stan's making stancakes and then we have to get to work." Dipper nods his head in acknowledgement. "Alright I'll be down in a min." Mabel nods and runs back down the stairs. Dipper pulls on his hat and shoes before Mabel shouts up to him. "Dippeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" He laughs slightly before shouting back to her. "I'm comiiiiing!" He starts heading down the stairs but stops in the hallway. "_Clarus palma flamma._" he whispers, smiling when a flame flickers in his palm, happy it wasn't a dream. He extinguishes the flame and walks into the kitchen, wondering what Bill will think of his powers. Walking into the kitchen he's met with the smell of coffee and stancakes. He immediately moves over to the coffee machine. It came as a surprise to absolutely no one that Dipper developed an addiction to coffee. What with his habit of staying up all night when he finds something new to read or research. The four eat their breakfast before moving into the shop to start cleaning. Soos turns up about half an hour after them. Dipper waits until everyone is out of earshot before moving to Ford. "Hey Grunkle Ford. I found a couple of what look like spells in one of the journals." Ford turns to the youngest quickly. "Did you manage to translate them?" Dipper nods slowly, deciding to play dumb for a minute. "A few words here and there. Not that it did me any good." Ford nods quickly. "Well? What language are they in?" Dipper pretends to think for a second. "Latin, which is why I could only translate a couple of words." Ford nods, almost disheartened. "So you couldn't cast the spells?" Dipper takes a second to think of his answer before shaking his head. "No. Why, can you?" Ford shakes his head firmly. "No. I always assumed only Bill could use those spells." Dipper nods his head and goes to help his sister clean. 

It takes them a couple hours to finish cleaning and stocking the shelves, so when they finish it was about 4:30. Dipper runs into his room back to his journals while everyone else is eating. Knowing that not even Ford could use magic he decides to research it a bit more himself. "Researching magic are you Pinetree? Is that where you went off to last night?" Dipper turns around to see Bill leaning against the door frame. "Hate to break it to ya but not even Sixer can do that stuff." Dipper raises his head slightly and sticks his tongue out. "I'll have you know I did manage it actually." Bill's tone immediately changes from teasing to interest. "Is that right Pinetree? Prove it." Dipper holds his hand out in front of him. "_Clarus palma flamma._" Bill moves beside him in an instant. Dipper looks at him and expression is full of pride. "I'm impressed Pinetree. Like I said not even Sixer can do that stuff. You never cease to amaze me." Dipper blushes heavily under Bill's gaze and his words are not helping in the slightest. Dipper pushes him away lightly but Bill doesn't move. He leans over Dipper a little more. Dipper's blush deepens causing Bill to laugh. "Bill! You're such a jerk!" Bill laughs again before floating over to his bed. "Maybe so. But it's your fault for being so cute when you're embarrassed. It's hilarious." Dipper glares at him before curling up on his bean bag and deciding to take a nap.

When he wakes up Bill isn't in his bed, or in the shack at all. It worries him a little but Bill wanders off a lot so he decides to ignore the bad feeling he has. For now at least.


	3. Bill?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill's missing and Dipper doesn't handle it well.

Dipper goes through the day without seeing Bill at all. Nor did he get any messages in his head from the demon. He pushes the thoughts away, hoping that Bill just wants some space, seen as he isn't responding to any of Dipper's thoughts. He goes to bed that night worrying for Bill's safety, but with no way to speak to him, Bill's phone is still on Dipper's desk, there isn't anything he can do about it. 

_'Pinetree.... Damn it.... took too long'_

Dipper wakes up early the next morning to find the house quiet. He heads downstairs, makes himself a coffee before heading back up to his room. He places his mug on the floor before going through his bag to find a book to read. He looks up at Bill's bed surprised he isn't bugging him for reading and not paying attention to him. Before realising that he wasn't around yesterday and apparently didn't come back after Dipper had gone to sleep. 'Where did you go Bill?' He sighs heavily before picking up his book and beginning to read. It was two hours later when Mabel intruded in to is room. Once again distracting him from the missing Demon. 

It takes a week for Bill to contact Dipper again. 

_'Pinetree?'_

_'Bill!? Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you all week!'_

_'Sorry about that Pinetree. I can't really walk around or freely talk to you at the moment. All though I would love nothing more than to see you right now.' _

_'Wait what? What do you mean?'_

_'I got kidnapped. I have no clue where I am and my powers have been blocked. The only thing I can do is talk to you and even that's a bit hit and miss right now.'_

_'WHAT!?'_

He hears Bill's maniacal laughter echo around in his head. But it sounds different than usual, like he's faking it. 

_'Don't worry about me Pinetree. I'll be fine. They're only torturing me daily.'_

_'Bill! That's not okay!'_

_'Don't worry about it.'_

_'I most certainly _will _worry about it Cipher.'_

_'Oh no, you called me Cipher, guess I'm in trouble.'_

_'You're not in trouble Bill, I'm just worried about you.'_

_'Aww, thanks Pine....'_

Dipper feels Bill be pulled from his head.

_'Bill?'_

....

_'Bill!?'_

......

_'BILL!?'_

Dipper calls out to him for a few more seconds before giving up. It's no use, their connection is cut, he can't even feel his presence anymore. He throws his hat off and pulls on his hair, beginning to panic. Which leads to him hyperventilating. After a minute he starts trying to calm himself down. 'It's fine Dipper. Just calm down nothing will come from this if you start panicking.' It works for a few seconds until he realises that they've had hold of Bill for a week. A whole week of doing whatever the want. Torturing him, as Bill told him. He then starts panicking again. He grips onto his necklace tightly and shouts for his sister. "MABEL!" He knows he won't be able to calm himself down this time, he needs someone to help him. Mabel is at his door in less then a minute, followed shortly by their Grunkles. To be met with the sight that her brother has become, one hand clutching onto the necklace that Bill gave him, his cap knocked off lying discarded on the floor with his freed hand clutching his hair tightly. Breathing heavily trying his hardest to calm himself down. Mabel runs into the room and pulls him into a hug. "Dipper. Dipper you need to breath okay? Remember your breathing exercises?" Dipper nods slightly, copying his sisters breathing. Once he lets go off his hair she picks up his hat off the floor. "You want to tell me what caused this one?" Dipper nods quickly, still clutching the necklace but smiling as Mabel places the hat back on his head. "Bill. He's been kidnapped. He doesn't know where he is but apparently whoever has him is torturing him." Mabel reaches a hand out towards him and places it on his shoulder. "What do you want to do about it?" Dipper looks to his bag where the journals lie. "Find him of course." He takes a few deep breathes before calming completely. "Mabel can you make me some Mabel juice?" Mabel hesitates before nodding. "You know it isn't good for you, but yeah sure." Dipper smiles at her as she leaves the room. He is then left with Stan and Ford, neither of them sure how to handle his feelings for the demon, which are shining through brighter than ever. "I know you still haven't completely forgiven him, nor do you really trust him but please. But please I need to find him." Before either of them can respond, Mabel moves back into the room with a blender of Mabel juice and a mug. Seeing Mabel so ready to help her brother made their minds up for them. "Dipper let us know if there's anything we can do to help." Dipper turns to look at them and smiles. He takes a swig of Mabel juice, shaking his head slightly at the strange taste, before looking at Ford. "Did you do any research into the spells?" Ford nods slowly. "Yeah I did. Do you need it?" Dipper nods as he goes to take the journals out of his bag. "Please." Ford just nods before leaving to go down to his lab. "I'll bring you some food up in a bit okay?" Dipper smiles a little and nods his head. "Thank you Grunkle Stan." He just nods his head and leaves the two alone. 

Mabel sits in silence for only a minute before turning to her brother, who was stood in front of his desk. "How can I help Dipper?" Dipper looks up from his desk before handing her Journal 2. "I think there's a few more spells in there. If you see any, write them down in this." He hands her a spare notebook and pencil. "The wording needs to be exact from the book okay?" Mabel nods, taking taking the notebook before looking back up at her brother. "Why are you looking at spells anyway?" Dipper holds his right hand out to her, barely looking up from Journal 1. "_Clarus palma flamma." _He can feel the flame form on his palm and smiles slightly at Mabel's gasp. "That's awesome Dipper!" Dipper turns to look up and smile at her properly before he hears a cough from the door. He looks up to see Ford stood in the doorway, holding a pile of files. Dipper quickly extinguishes the flame. "Sorry for lying to you Grunkle Ford." Ford just waves his hand in front of his face, silently telling him it's okay. He holds out the files for Dipper to take. The teen wastes no time in complying, taking the research before Ford leaves the room. "Thanks Grunkle Ford!" He calls out as he walks down the stairs towards his room. Dipper drops the files next to his journal when Mabel gasps excitedly. "Dipper! I found a spell!" Dipper turns to face her quickly. "Brilliant!" She hands him the notebook which he copies the spell from before handing it back. "Thanks." He turns to his bag and starts rooting through it. "What are you looking for Dip Dot?" He holds up the dictionary he was looking for. "Latin to English dictionary. I've been learning Latin but it's slow going, so I use the dictionary to help me translate them. Mabel just nods and turns back to the journal. About 10 minutes later, Dipper has almost finished translating the spell. "Know what it is yet Dip Dop?" Dipper nods his head slightly. "I'm pretty sure that it's an illusion spell." Mabel jumps up quickly, immediately excited. "Well try it out!" Dipper nods slowly. "Okay just gimme a minute to finish translating it." Just over a minute later, Dipper has finished the translation and his initial thought was correct, it is an illusion spell. "You still sure you want me to do this?" She nods quickly. "I trust you Dipper." Dipper nods slowly before reciting the spell. "_Fallaciae de corde conuentus uarie._" Mabel's eyes start to glow a pale, but bright pink, once he finishes the spell. "Mabel?" She doesn't respond. He turns back to the journal looking for a cancellation spell. It takes a few minute for him to find a cancellation spell. He jots it down quickly in his journal, before turning to his sister. "_Re vera non est mendacium._" Mabel's eyes lose their pink colour before they focus back in on her brother. She blinks her eyes a couple of times. "Dipper you did it! It worked!" He blinks at her a couple times. "Really? It wasn't a bad illusion or anything was it." Mabel shakes he head quickly, making sure her brother knows he didn't scare her or hurt her or anything along those lines. "Nope! I assume it's because you didn't _want _to hurt me. " Dipper smiles thankfully that he didn't upset or scare her. "Hey Dipper... I wonder if you can do what Bill does and make something appear." Dipper shrugs his shoulders, curious as to whether he could but doubting it slightly. Still surprised that he can even do magic in the first place. "I suppose I could try it." She nods excitedly and sits on the bed. Dipper sighs at her excitement and holds his hand out. "_Fallaciae de corde conuentus uarie._" A second after, a floating Triangle Bill appears in his room. Mabel snickers a little under her breath at the fact that that is what he summons. She stops quickly though when she looks up and sees her brothers face. "Dipper we'll get him back I promise." Dipper sighs looking over to his sister. "I don't know Mabel. How am I meant to find him, if I don't even know where he is?" The illusory Bill starts laughing obnoxiously. Dipper flinches at the noise, before turning to the Demon he created. "_Re vera non est mendacium._" Bill disappears immediately. Mabel smiles sadly at her twin before standing up from the bed and bringing him into a hug. She lets him go and hands him his journal. "Come on Bro Bro. Let's keep looking." Dipper nods and accepts the journal she's holding out. He still has two more spells to translate so he drops onto his bean bag and picks up his pen and dictionary. 

A half hour later, he had both of them translated, he sighs, rubs his eyes and then looks back down at the spells. "Okay so a levitation spell and a.... a possession spell?" Mabel looks up to hi quickly. "Really?" He nods, holding up the journal to show her the page. "Yeah. At least I think so." He looks down at the page and up to his sister. "_Gravitatis infra debilitat._" Mabel giggles as she gets lifted up into the air. "Dipper!" She protests weakly. Dipper simply laughs as her hair floats around her face. "What? I thought you'd enjoy basically flying." She laughs slightly and nods her head in agreement. "Well you were right. But come on put me down, we're not done." He laughs at her but does as she said and lets him down. "_Re vera non est mendacium._" Once Mabel is sat back on the bed he gets an idea. 

He waits until his sister starts reading again before thinking the spell in his head, rather than saying it outloud. '_Gravitatis infra debilitas._' Mabel immediately starts panicking. "Uh! Dipper!?" Dipper laughs a little before reassuring her. "Sorry Mabes. I just wanted to check something." She sighs in relief as Dipper lets her down. He smiles at her and looks down at the other spell in his book. "Hey Mabes? Can you go get me one of your toys?" She nods twice before running out of the attic towards her room. 5 minutes later she returns. "How did it take you so long to choose a toy?" She shrugs and hugs the toy to her chest as she drops onto the bed. "I didn't know what you wanted it for okay? So I went with one of the biggest." He nods and takes the toy from her, placing it on the floor infront of his bean bag. "Alright then. Let's see if this works." He looks down at his journal and reads the spell once more. "_Transcendit et fenore tuas mihi._" A blue flame burns brightly on Dipper's hand. He hesitates for half a second before placing his hand onto the toy. A secondater his body slumps onto the bean bag, his soul transferred over to Mabel's toy. "Dipper!?" She jumped off the bed towards her brother. Dipper makes the toy move over towards her as she starts shaking his body's shoulders. He nudges her leg when he is close enough. She yelps in surprise before looking down at the toy. "Dipper?" He nods. "Did it work then?" He nods again, knowing she won't be able to hear him. '_Re vera non est mendacium._' He returns to his body as the teddy bear slumps lifelessely to the floor. "Dipper this is so cool." He smiles up at her, before blushing when his stomach rumbles. Mabel laughs and pulls him up. "We should probably go get some food." He nods and follows her down to the kitchen. But not before grabbing his notebook and dictionary. Mabel rolls her eyes good naturedly but doesn't actually say anything about it. When they get into the kitchen, Dipper sits at the table and starts translating the last spell he found. Stan walks into the kitchen soon after Mabel decides to cook something and takes over from her, not wanting the kitchen to set on fire. Dipper looks up at the interaction laughing a little. Stan offers him a slight smile before cooking his niece and nephew some food. 

Dipper has nearly finished translating the spell by the time the food is ready. "Hey Mabes? I think this might be a locator spell." Both Mabel and Stan perk up at that. "Does that mean you can find out where Bill is being held?" Dipper nods his head as Stan brings over their plates. "Thanks Stan. And yeah, at least I think so. I just need to finish translating it to make sure." Stan punches his arm lightly. "There you go kid! One day of research and you've already made progress." Dipper smiles at him and starts eating. 

_'Hey Pinetree....'_

_'Bill!'_

The two watch silently as Dipper stops eating. Sending a look to the other quickly. 

_'How are you?'_

_'Nevermind how I am you stupid Dorito! How are you?'_

_'I've been better. These human bodies are really frail.'_

_'I know Bill. Just endure it a little longer okay?' _

_'Why? Are you going to come save me?'_

_'Of course I am Bill!' _

_'Awww. T_ _hanks Pinetree.'_

_'I mean it Bill. I'm going to come save you.'_

_'Thank you Dipper.'_

That's how Dipper knows Bill isn't doing good. He _never_ calls him Pinetree. He _always_ calls him Pinetree. "You alright there Kid?" Stan asks after a second. Dipper nods, quickly finishing the rest of his food. "Thanks for the food Grunkle Stan. I'm gonna go back to my room now." He nods slightly as Dipper leaves, notebook and dictonary in hand. 

He has the rest of the spell translated within 10 minutes of being back in his room. He reads it over twice. It's the longest spell he's translated so far. After reading Ford's notes he knows that to use a locator spell you need to have something given to you by the person you're trying to locate. He reaches for the string around his neck. Pulling a triangle charm from behind his neck, to beside the pinetree charm. He clutches them both tightly. _'Dicam de loco dicam vestra vobis sicut misit me facio locus.'_ He feels his magic stretch away from him, searching for Bill's prescense. He leans deeper into his bean bag. Searching desperately for the comforting feel of Bill's magic. After 10 minutes of searching he still hasn't felt even an incling of Bill's presence. He calls his own magic back to him, empty handed. Sighing sadly he pulls his hat off and finally gives up on fighting the exhaustion. Allowing it to wash over him. 


	4. Locating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper manages to locate Bill and gets Gravity Fall's residents to hep them when they're ready to break him out.

It takes Dipper two weeks to locate where Bill is being held. 

Every night for the past two weeks before Dipper goes to sleep, he sends his magic out to search for Bill. He does the same tonight. Stretching his magic as far as it will go from his room in the attic. He searches for roughly 5 minutes before feeling Bill's energy. He jumps off of the bean bag before running down to the kitchen. He picks up two pans banging them together as loudly as he can. Making his ears hurt but he's to anxious to care. Mabel, unsurprisingly, is the first one to run into the kitchen. "Dipper! What's going on? What are you doing?" Dipper drops the pans back onto the stove quickly. "I found him! I found where Bill's being kept." Their Grunkles walk in quickly. "Kid please tell me you're not going to just storm in there?" Dipper sighs but shakes his head. "Of course not. That would be stupid and could get Bill killed. Could get me killed." Stan and Ford let out a sigh of relief. "I'm going to create a plan before I do anything." Mabel smiles at her brother and slams her fist into an open palm. "Are we part of that plan Dipping Sauce?" He nods his head. "If you'll help me." The three smile at him comfortingly. "Of course we'll help you Dipper. Let's see if we can get the others to help us as well." Mabel's and shoots up quickly. "I'll call Pacifica! She'll probably say no if any else asks her anyway." Dipper smiles at his sister slightly, aware of the crush she has developed on the blonde. "Okay you can call Pacifica. I'll call Soos and Wendy." She nods and heads upstairs for her phone. "If I tell you where it is can you please go scope it out without getting killed?" The elder twins look at each other for a second before turning back to Dipper. Stan chuckles and nods his head. "We can do that." Dipper nods at the two of them. "Okay. Well I couldn't work out the _exact_ area. But I know that it was close to where the sap caves is." They nod firmly before heading for the door. Mabel walks back into the kitchen as Stan grabs the car keys. The elders take a quick look at the new Mystery Twins before leaving the shack.

Dipper pulls his phone out and calls Soos first. "Hey Dood. How are you?" Dipper smiles at Soos's usual greeting, although he sounds tired. "I'm better. Speaking of. Would you be willing to help me break Bill out of where he's being held prisoner?" Soos thinks for only a second before answering. "Of course I will Dood. Sounds like an adventure, I'l head round to the shack now." Dipper smiles in relief at his answer. "Thanks Soos. But we're not going now so you can come round in the morning for when we start planning. That work for you?" He can hear Soos nod on the other end. "Totally. See you tomorrow then." With that he hangs up the call. He can hear Mabel still talking to Pacifica and chuckles as he calls Wendy. "Hey Wendy." Wendy's voice comes through clear, and he's glad Wendy has never been big on sleeping. "What's up Dipper?" Dipper takes a deep breath before speaking again. "I found where Bill is being held. Will you come with us when we go to break him out." The line goes silent for a moment. But is soon filled by the sound of Wendy's laughter. "I guess Mabel was right. You really have fallen for the Demon who tried to tear the world apart." He goes to defend himself, but before he can say anything Wendy is talking again. "Sure I'll help you. Besides he isn't too bad now that he's human. Still a bit crazy though." Dipper laughs in agreement with her statements. "Thank you Wendy. It means a lot. I'll let you know when we have a plan. Or you can come round tomorrow morning for when we start." She hums on the other end. "Alright. Well I'll see you soon. I'm gonna head to bed." Dipper bids her goodnight before hanging up the phone. He turns to Mabel who's still on the phone. She looks up at him and holds her thumb up. Telling him that Pacifica will help, before returning to her conversation. He chuckles slightly before leaving his sister to talk to her future girlfriend. 

An hour later, their Grunkles enter the shack. "Kids!" Dipper and Mabel run in from where they were waiting in the kitchen. "We found it. Now we just need a plan." Dipper feels a smile forming on his face. "Thank you." The two nod in response before Stan points to the stairs. "We can start planning in the morning okay? It's almost 2am, get some sleep. We'll start at 9 okay?" Dipper nods and follows Mabel upstairs. He drops onto his bean bag, pulling a blanket over himself, and curls up.

_'Just hang on a little bit longer Bill. I'm coming for you.'_

Dipper wakes up the next morning a little after half 6. He curls up again for a minute before getting up. He decides that a shower would be a good idea after looking himself over. He grabs his clothes for the day as well as a towel and makes his way downstairs to the bathroom. He turns the shower on and jumps in as soon as the water is warm. After 20 minutes, he turns the shower off and steps out, missing the hot water as soon as the cold air hits him. He starts drying off feeling better than he had before. Once he's dry he pulls on his clothes and vigorously rubs the towel over his wet hair. Once it's vaguely dry he throws the towel into the hamper, along side his dirty clothes, and heads back to his room for his hat.

Once he's downstairs he heads immediately for the kitchen to make himself a coffee. Once the coffee is done he moves into the living room and sits on the armchair. He curls his legs up so that all of him is on the chair. After an hour and a bit of watching Ducktective and nursing two cup of coffee, someone knocks on the front door. He places the mug on the floor before getting up to answer it. Soos stands on the other side. "Soos, good to see you." Soos nods and accepts Dippers silent invitation to follow him inside. "Good to see you too Dood." Dipper closes the door before walking into the living room after him. "You want anything to eat?" Soos shakes his head politely. "No thanks Dood. Melanie made breakfast this morning before I left." Dipper smiles at the mention of Melanie. "Glad to hear you two are going strong. But come on, I'm watching Ducktective till those three wake up." Soos cheers childishly sitting on the floor in front of the armchair, allowing Dipper to keep his seat. Dipper smiles and curls back up on the armchair. They watch the episode in silence, except for a few jokes or comments here and there. 

At the end of that episode Mabel, Stan and Ford enter the living room. Mabel jumps onto Soos happily upon seeing him, knocking him over. He returns her eager hug happily. Helping her get back up once she lets go. Ford allows the two to talk for a little bit before clearing his throat to catch their attention. "We should start planning, you helping Soos?" Before he can answer another voice cuts him off. "I hope you weren't planning a jail break without me you guys?" Dipper looks up at her and laughs. "Never dream of it Wendy." He sees Pacifica stood beside her who quickly moves to Mabel's side. He catches his sisters eye who blushes and looks away from him. "I think we're ready to start then. Stan we got enough food for this many people?" Stan quickly shakes his head in denial. "Nope. So how about we go diner instead?" Everyone nods in agreement so Stan picks his keys up off the living room table. "Diner it is. Let's get going then." Mabel cheers as they head for Stan's truck. 

Adjusting his hat as he sits down, Dipper climbs into the back of the truck. Stan and Ford in the front seats, Mabel, Soos and Wendy in the back seats. With Pacifica sitting on Mabel's lap. Leaving him to sit in the trailer. Not that he minds, he watches the forest get a bit further away as they drive into town. After a 10 nearly 15 minute drive, they pull up outside the only diner in Gravity Falls. Dipper jumps out of the trailer as his family and friends get out of the truck. He follows his family into the diner and takes a seat at the booth they choose. 

The 7 of them are still in the diner come midday, and are no closer to having an actual plan to rescue Bill. Dipper sighs as the group leave the diner, climbing back into the trailer of his Grunkles truck. On the way back he sends his magic out to search for Bill. The comfort he finds in being able to feel Bill's magic makes him smile. He pulls his knees into his chest and sits their for the 15 minutes it takes Stan to drive them back to the shack.


	5. Balancer?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper learns something about himself as they plan to save Bill

When the group get back to the shack, Dipper jumps out the back of the truck and enters the shack before the others. He walks through the house straight up to the attic. Dropping onto his bean bag and stares at the Journal on his bed. Sighing heavily he pulls the bill of his cap down over his eyes. He creates an illusion of Bill and leans into his bean bag as the illusion floats silently around his room. He lets a small smile drift across his face as he watches it. He sits in silence with the illusion for about half an hour until Mable barges into his room, dragging Pacifica in behind her. He quickly makes the illusion disappear as Mable closes the door, stopping Pacifica from leaving. "Mabel? What's up?" She turns back to face him. "Well Ford was talking to all of us downstairs. He sent us up here to check something with you to see if he's right." Dipper narrows his eyes slightly. "What do you need to check?" Pacifica steps forwards, tired of the waiting. "We need to check how close you are to Bill. Because Ford believes that you might be something akin to a 'Soulmate' for Demon's. Bill's obviously." Dipper nods slowly as she talks, taking in the information. "He says it would explain how quickly you became accustomed to using magic, to the level that you can." Dipper takes a second to answer. "Okay.... So how do you check that?" Pacifica shrugs. "I'm not sure why, but can you feel what he's feeling?" He looks between the two for a second. "And if I can?" Pacifica sighs at him. "It means, as I just told you, that you are indeed his 'Soulmate' as feeling each others emotions is one of the most important and strongest links between a Demon and their 'Soulmate'." Pacifica uses quotation marks around the word Soulmate, but Dipper decides not to question it right now. "So?" Pacifica asks impatiently but Dipper shrugs in response. "I'm not sure." He ignores Pacifica's groan of annoyance as he stretches his magic out to find Bill. Upon finding Bill's presence, he focuses on him more, honing his magic in on him. He searches only a few seconds more before feeling Bill's emotions. They're a mess to say the least. He's scared, which is something he didn't even think Bill could feel. But he's also tired and in pain, deeper down though there also seems to be hope that Dipper will manage to rescue him like he's said he'll do. Dipper opens his eyes and looks between his sister and Pacifica before nodding slowly. "I can feel his emotions." Mabel smirks at him but before she can say anything to him Pacifica opens the door and pulls her out of the room. He hesitates for only a few seconds before following the two girls down through the house and into the kitchen. 

When they get into the kitchen everyone turns to stare at him so he pulls the bill of his cap down, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. "Dipper." He looks up from under his hat. Ford takes a deep breath. "It would appear that you really are Bill's 'Soulmate'. Although a more accurate word would be Balancer. You act to balance out.... well.... everything about him I suppose." Dipper looks up at him completely, not hearing a disappointed or angry tone coming from him. "So what does that mean?" Ford sighs a little and looks around the room. "Well firstly it explains your natural ability for magic, which is nearly impossible for humans to learn. But what it means is that well. That you would make a very important catch for whoever has Bill currently. The Balancer of a Demon, especially if they aren't one, can be a very effective way of controlling or subduing the Demon." Dipper nods in understanding as the other people in the room keep switching their attention between the two. "Once the Balancer and Demon come into 'contract' the Demon becomes very protective over them. The same can often be said for the Balancer. As any pain the Balancer feels the Demon will feel as well and this enrages the Demon." Dipper nods again. "Okay. But I know your not about to let me walk in their hoping they'll take me in Bill's place. So where is this going?" Ford smiles a little at Dipper for catching on so quickly. "Well we're going to try and rescue Bill on Tuesday, which is three days from now. So, by then you need to be able to control your magic properly. As I have no doubt it will come in handy." Dipper hums in agreement. "Speaking of how is your magic coming along?" Dipper smirk slightly and makes them all float before creating an illusion to make them think he set the kitchen on fire. Once they were all sufficiently surprised he lowers himself into the flames ignoring the shouts of the others. The shouts soon die out as they realise that he is stood in the middle of the fire and isn't hurt at all. He destroys the illusion and lowers everyone to the ground. "That work for you?" Ford nods silently, still slightly shell shocked at the image of his on nephew standing in the middle of a fire. "Wait so what's the plan for Tuesday then?" Stan ruffles his hair slightly. "That's up to you Kid. It's your Demon we're rescuing so we'll follow whatever plan you come up with." Dipper pushes Stan's arm off of his head before walking towards the stairs. "Okay, well I'll think of a plan then." They all nod in silent approval as Dipper starts walking upstairs towards his room. 

As promised, three days later the group are ready to go. Dipper has spent the time practicing with his magic to make sure that he can control it, and sleep the entire day on Monday to make sure that he has enough energy to go with them. The rest of the group have been armed by Stanford and have been shown how to use the weapons they were given. On Tuesday morning, Dipper is the first one to wake up, he throws on some jeans a red shirt and a dark blue hoodie, followed by his Pinetree cap, obviously. He walks into the kitchen and to his surprise Stan and Mabel are already up and Mabel is helping Stan cook breakfast. Well, trying to she's being more of a hindrance than a help. Dipper laughs slightly as Stan steals the pan back from his sister. She turns around upon hearing his laugh and leaves Stan alone. Their uncle lets out a sigh of relief as she does so, before turning back to the pan. "You ready for today?" Dipper nods a little. "As ready as I'll ever be I guess." Mabel smiles at him and sits down at the table with him, waiting for the others to arrive. 

An hour and a bit later and every one is ready and waiting in the shack. They double check all their weapons while Dipper reads through the spells one last time. Once everyone is ready to go, they all head out the shack towards Stan's truck. Dipper puts his journal down on the table, following after them quickly. The seating arrangements are the same as last time so Dipper climbs into the back of the truck again. When they start nearing the area Dipper starts searching for Bill's magic as reassurance. He can't find it, but being this close to the location he should definitely be able to. Which means that something is _wrong_. He sends a small illusion of himself to the front of the truck. It's just a small version of himself. The illusion shakes his head and hands vigorously causing Stan to slam on the breaks and stop the truck. He climbs out, quickly followed by the others. "What's going on? Why have we stopped?" Dipper feels around again before opening his eyes to look at Stan. "I can't feel him. From here I should definitely be able to feel him. Something's wrong." The group look around for a few seconds before turning back to Dipper. "So what do you want us to do?" Dipper shrugs for a second before answering. "Wait. If I can't feel him in an hour we'll have to go and try another day." With that the group climb back into the truck, Mabel hesitating before climbing in after Pacifica. 

An hour later and Dipper still hasn't been able to feel Bill's magic. He tells Stan to start driving and they return to the shack without Bill. Dipper leaves the group quickly and heads up to his room, confused as to Bill could've been taken that would hide his presence like that. As well as upset that they can't save him yet. 

He curls up on his bean bag and spreads his magic out to every corner of Gravity Falls. Well as far as he can from his attic anyway. But after 10 minute of searching he calls it back and lies there, dejected. A minute later someone knocks on the door. He hums softly to tell them they can come in. Walking into his room Mabel takes one look at him and kneels down beside him, pulling him into a hug. He doesn't return it for a few seconds. "We'll find him Dipper. I promise." Dipper scoffs a little. Not trying to be mean, but he's tired and upset. "Easy for you to say Mabel, Pacifica is safe and sound right here in the shack. And I don't know if this has something to do with being Bill's 'Balancer' or whatever, but I feel like something's missing. And I don't mean that in like a missing him kind of way. Because of course I miss him, but it literally feels like part of myself,, my soul is missing." Mabel tightens her hold on Dipper, who finally returns the hug himself. "Dipper I promise you. We _will _find him." Dipper nods slightly, pressing his face into her shoulder. "I know Mabes. I know. Thank you." She gives her brother one last squeeze before letting go. "Grunkle Ford is keeping all the weapons ready to go so as soon as you can feel him again, we'll go." Dipper nods in understanding. "Okay. I'll let you guys know." She smiles at him before standing up. After hesitating for a second at the door she turns back around. "I know this is probably a bad time to tell you, but I don't want you to find out any way other than me telling you." Dipper looks up at her, his head tilted slightly in confusion, although he has an idea of what she's going to tell him. "Me and Pacifica got together. Seeing you so upset about Bill made me finally confess to her." Dipper smiles at her, nodding his head. "Mabel it's okay. I'm glad you finally got together." She smiles back before leaving the room. 


	6. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and the rest finally manage to rescue Bill.

It takes almost another week for Dipper to feel Bill's presence again. By the time he has, the twins birthday is just under 2 weeks away. As Ford promised, they leave as soon as he tells them. 

Once again, Dipper is sat in the back of Stan's truck as the others pile inside. He stops them outside once again just to make sure he can still feel him. He checks quickly while the others grab their weapons. He nods his head and jumps out the truck after confirming that Bill is still in there. "He's here. Let's go." They all follow him to the entrance of the building.

Looking at the building properly, Dipper notices that it, like the Sap Caves, goes underground once you enter. So once they find Bill they're going to have to make their way up and out of the bunker. Walking towards the door he notices runes carved into the door frame, which he guesses are to keep Bill from using his powers. He turns from the door to the group behind him. "I told you the other week. We'll follow whatever plan you come up with. Dipper takes a deep breath before nodding. "Okay. Well, firstly we'll be going underground once we're in there. Meaning that once we get Bill, we're gonna have to 'climb' our way back up here." They all nod in understanding and agreement. 

_'_ _B_ _ill?'_

_'Pinetree?'_

_'Where are you being kept?'_

_'Why?' _

_'This is not the time to be difficult Bill. Tell me where you are.'_

_'I know I know. Alright I'm being held at the back. More space for runes that way, make sure they can keep me weak.'_

_'Well you'll be out of there soon.'_

Dipper opens his eyes to look at the group. "He's right at the back of the facility. We should move quick and try not to get caught." Everyone nods as Pacifica goes to open the door. It's locked. "Okay, time for Plan B. Grunkle Stan? You want to do the honours?" Stan cracks his knuckles and laughs a little bit. "With pleasure." He takes two steps towards the door and with a swift, hard kick. The lock snaps and the door swings open. Nodding his thanks to Stan as he leads them inside. Almost as soon as they got in there, they are met by a group wearing red robes. "The Demon's Balancer has arrived. Take him he can be useful for us." Stan pushes in front of Dipper quickly. "No you don't." He punches the closest guy in the face, unfortunately for the man, Stan is wearing his brass knuckles. That action launches the rest of them into a fight. With too many people fighting, Dipper stands on the sidelines, thinking of a plan. Once everyone had been knocked down, Dipper catches everyone's attention. "Okay so I have a plan. Stan, Wendy and I will stay at the front of the group because we'd be the best option to start a fight with." He pauses for a second and thinks about what he just said. "Well that's something I _never_ thought I'd say about myself." Stan laughs and punches him on the shoulder lightly. "Anyway. Mabel, Pacifica, Soos and Grunkle Ford will bring up the rear. That way you can sneak behind anyone we end up fighting." They all nod in agreement and, after moving into their positions, start moving through the base. 

2 more fights later and they're still not even halfway through. Dipper is using his connection to Bill to see how close they're getting. "We're not getting anywhere fast like this Dipper." Dipper nods, leaning against a wall as Mabel talks. "I know Mabel but what else can we do?" Mabel sighs as well. "I don't know Dipper. But this is going to take ages." Dipper watches as the others sit down or lean against other parts of the wall in the corner they are currently hiding in. "I think I have an idea." Wendy turns to face him. "What do ya got Dipper?" He turns to face her as well. "I'm not sure if it'll work but if it does it should speed things up." The rest of the group crowd around him. "Stan and Wendy, could you go knock someone out and bring them here? I'm going to posses them and see how far in it gets me." The two nod and leave the corner to go doe as he asked. The rest of them wait silently for them to come back. Wendy and Stan come back round the corner, with Stan holding a person over his shoulder. "This guy good enough?" Dipper nods and kneels beside the guy after they lie him down. "Okay. So I'm going to posses him, so I need you guys to look after my body, and also keep him from getting help if he wakes up and enter my body." He holds his hand out, a blue flame burning around it. "Alright we can do that Dipper." He nods and places his hand on the body. He pushes the guys soul out of his body, and allows his own to take over it. He watches as his body crumple to the floor. Mabel and Pacifica immediately move his body further into the corner, sitting in front of it protectively. Soos sits down with them as well. Dipper adjusts the hood a little, before looking up at at Stan and Wendy. "Thanks. Okay so, I'm gonna see if I can get him out like this. I'll be back as soon as I can find Bill." With that Dipper turns and leaves their hiding space. 

5 minutes later and he hasn't been caught, no one had even batted an eye at him. 

15 minutes later and he still hasn't been stopped. But it seems he's about to run into a problem. The guards wear blue robes. He catches one of the guards watching him, so he turns around quickly and starts heading back to where his family are waiting. 

Once he gets back to his family, he pulls the hood down. "Small problem guys. The guards wear different robes to everyone else." Everyone sighs at the information. "Wait I have an idea." He takes back his body. Not caring about the mans body crumpling to the ground with a thump. He sits up in his own body. "Okay I have an idea. Mabel? Wanna help me?" She nods quickly. "Alright, then put his robes on. Don't worry they wear clothes underneath them." Mabel sighs in relief for a second before snatching his robes and pulling them on. Pacifica lends her a bobble, to make sure that her hair doesn't fall out the hood. "Wait what are you going to do?" Dipper shrugs a second. "I'll just follow behind you, trying my best not to attract attention." Mable nods her head pulling the hood a little further down. "Let's go then." With that she leads the way back into the corridor. 

When they get back to where Dipper noticed the guard staring at him he pulls Mabel into another corner before he spots them. "Dipper?" He holds a finger up, silently telling her to wait for a minute. He searches for Bill's presence, smiling when he finds it. "Okay, take off the robe, I'll go steal you his." She nods a little, flattening down her now frizzy hair after pulling the robe over her head. She nods silently as Dipper walks off, peaking around the corner to see what Dipper does. He makes the guard float as he walks towards him. Once he gets close enough he pulls the robe over his head before throwing him into the wall. Watching as he slams into the wall behind him. He turns around and walks back towards Mabel. "Here you go Mabel." She doesn't say anything in response to what she just witnessed and silently pulls the new robe on. 

Once she has, they leave the corner and start walking towards the cells. "Turn left." She turns to look at him. "How do you know?" She asks with a smirk on her face. "I just know." Cheeks reddening as he answers. She chuckles, but does turn to the left. "Well do you _just know_ how close we are?" Dipper rolls his eyes at her. "We're close. Wait stop for a second." She turns to face him as they stop walking. "What have we stopped for?" Holding a finger up to silence her he leans a little closer to the corridor and nearest cells. 

A few by seconds she the voices as well. "Are you sure you don't want to let me out of here? It's awfully boring in here." Then a second voice rings out. "Shut it Cipher or I'll or shock you again." Mabel turns to her brother, to see him seething in anger. Mabel watches worriedly as Dipper starts walking towards the cell. She hears Bill laugh before anything else happens. "Are you sure? I have a sneaking feeling that someone is going to stop you from doing that." Dipper calmly walks up behind the guard and shoots a smile at Bill, before staring at the back of the guards head. Within a second, the guard is rubbing his eyes and staring into the cell. Pulling the key out he unlocks the door and steps into Bill's cell. Dipper quickly snatches the key from him and steps inside after him. Once in the cell, he quickly moves towards Bill and helps him up. Handing him over to Mabel who is waiting just outside the cell he undoes the guards illusion. The guard rubs his eyes again before turning around and seeing Bill outside the cell. The man goes to grab Dippers shoulder to pull him back. But instead pulls his hand back like he was electrocuted. Bill watches from beside Mabel with a smirk on his face as Dipper turns to face the guard. "Stop or I'll shock you again." He lifts his hand up and it crackles a bit. The guard takes a step back causing Bill to laugh. Dipper locks the guard inside the cell and looks up at him. "You're so dumb?" Dipper takes a step away from the cell door, before dropping the keys at his feet. Out of the guards reach, but very much in his line of sight. 

They leave that hallway and hide in a corner before Dipper turns to him. "Bill? Are you okay?" Bill nods slightly as he switches from leaning on Mabel to leaning on Dipper. "That was quite the display of magic there Pinetree. I'm impressed." Dipper blushes and turns to Mabel to hide it from Bill. "We should head back to the others." Mabel nods and starts walking. "Can't you teleport there?" Dipper turns back to Bill and shakes his head. "I don't know any teleportation spells. At least not yet." Bill laughs a little and places his hand on Dipper's forehead. "I'll share with you." He transfers the spell to Dipper but then slumps against him even more. "Bill don't do anything else okay?" Bill waves his hand slightly before passing out. "Bill?!" He whispers loudly as Bill collapses. Placing a hand on her brothers shoulder, Mabel grabs his attention. "We need to get back to the others." Dipper nods slightly before silently repeating the spell Bill had shared with him. Within seconds the 3 appear in front of the group. "What? How?" Dipper interrupts him quickly. "Teleportation spell. Are we okay to leave? Bill passed out on us and he doesn't look to good." Ford nods quickly, followed by the rest of the group. "Alright. Let's go. You stay behind us and focus on keeping Bill safe." Mabel laughs to herself knowing very well that he could do both, but stays silent.

It only takes them 15 minutes to reach the entrance again. It would have taken longer but as one group went to stop them, Dipper just looks up from where he was looking after Bill and glares at them. They immediately withered up and ran away. Mabel laughs at Ford's face when it happens and has to bite back the 'I told you so' burning on the tip of her tongue. Because she technically never did. Once they get back to Stan's truck, Dipper pulls Bill up into the back of the truck with him as everyone else piles inside.

He places Bill's head on his lap once Stan starts up the truck and quickly pulls away from the facility. Running his fingers through Bill's hair and looks down at Bill. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get you back Bill. But I've got you back now and I'm going to keep you safe. I won't let them take you from me again." Bill's eyes open and he stares up at the brunette. "That's a big promise Pinetree. Are you sure you can keep it?" Dipper nods quickly. "I'm sure." Bill smirks at him happily. "Seems like you've accepted into your role as my Balancer pretty well." Dipper rolls his eyes but continues running his fingers through the blondes hair. "Just go to sleep Bill. You look like shit." Bill laughs at him but complies and closes his eyes. 


	7. Healing and the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper helps Bill heal before Mabel starts planning their birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Billdip finally happens not just spoken about

Once they get back to the shack Dipper jumps out the back and levitates Bill out. He hovers him just out of reach so that if he were to drop, he'd be able to catch him. He would carry him normally, but Bill is _much_ taller than Dipper is so it would be too awkward and difficult for him to carry him. He brings him up to his room and places him down on the bed. He leaves quickly to go get a wet rag, to clean off the random specks of blood on him. As well as the first aid kit from the kitchen, to clean up any cuts he has. Since even though he can't see any major injuries, it's definitely Bill's blood. As he goes downstairs to grab it, he thanks everyone for going with him to save Bill. They quickly accept the thanks and allow him to run back up to tend to Bill. He nods and thanks them again before running upstairs with the first aid kit and a rag. The first thing he does is remove Bill's gloves then clean the dried blood off of his face and hands. Looking down at Bill's torn clothes he realises that he'll have to undress him to actually check him over properly. He looks down at him for a second before talking to him, hoping he can reach the Demon in his own dreamscape.

_'Bill?'_

_'Pinetree? You told me to sleep, what's wrong?'_

_'Nothing but to clean you up and check you over properly I need to undress you at least a little. Is that okay?'_

_'Mhmm yeah that's fine.'_

Dipper allows him to sleep peacefully after that short conversation. He removes Bill's coat first, then his waistcoat, bow-tie and shirt. He removes them carefully, trying not to tear them anymore than they already are, and drops them kind of neatly onto his desk. He sighs sadly upon seeing Bill's chest. He isn't too badly hurt. But his chest is littered with small bruises along with small cuts here and there. He washes the wet rag over his chest first, placing plasters over the ones that had stopped bleeding and scabbed over, to prevent him scratching them open when he wakes up. Once he's finished cleaning his chest he rolls him over, careful to not aggravate the scratches on his chest. What he should have been worried about however, as he now is, are the scratches and bruises all over his back. But the most worrying thing are the cuts all over his back. They were clearly made by a knife and they look like someone tried to carve the Zodiac onto his back. It's his true form inside the two circles, with all the lines separating the different symbols. The only thing missing were the symbols themselves. They didn't even clean up the cuts, their is dried blood all over his back and it's a miracle they aren't infected. "Oh Bill." He moves over to the first aid kit, looking for antiseptic wipes and bandages. Upon only finding some antiseptic wipes, he remembers they used the last of the bandages three weeks ago when Mabel cut her arm, and they all forgot to replace them. He clicks his fingers and teleports into the kitchen, happy with himself when it works. "Hey Grunkle Stan? Can you go get me some bandages from the store? I'd ask you Grunkle Ford, but I know he's more likely to break a few speed laws if I asked?" Stan raises an eyebrow at him. "Are you asking?" Dipper nods firmly. "Yes. Bill has shoddy knife marks all over his back and we don't have any bandages." Stan just nods and leaves for his truck. Mabel and Pacifica walk in as Stan leaves. "What do you mean by 'shoddy knife marks'?" Dipper turns to the two. "Bill has cuts all over his back, like someone was trying to carve the Zodiac into his skin. Probably to see if it weakens him or to keep him passive. I don't know why." Mabel stares sadly at the space her brother just occupied as he teleports back to his room. 

Waiting until Stan comes back with the bandages, Dipper uses the time to clean Bill's back. He sends Stan a text saying they'll need more antiseptic wipes as well, because he'll probably use them all on Bill. He was 4 wipes in when Mabel and Pacifica walk into the room. Mabel carrying a few boxes of bandages. "Hey Dipper." Dipper turns around and takes the offered bandages silently, but thankfully. Placing them on his desk for when he's done cleaning Bill up. Mabel moves closer to him and peeks over his shoulder to see how bad Bill is. She gasps loudly, takes a step backwards, and falls onto Dipper's bean bag. "You okay Mabel?" She nods even though she knows he hasn't turned around. "Pacifica, take her to her room okay? I don't want her to be upset so cheer her up for me." Pacifica nods, seeing that he's turned his head enough to look at them. She helps Mabel up, leads her out of Dipper's room and downstairs into her own. 6 wipes later Dipper is sure that he has cleaned all of Bill's cuts properly. He picks up one of the boxes and pulls out the roll. He turns back to Bill and sits him up, being careful of all of cuts on his back. He finishes wrapping the bandages around his torso and fixes it in place. Laying him down on the bed he pulls a blanket over him seen as he doesn't have a shirt on, but also because it will help him sweat off any infection or fever he might have. Once Bill has been lain down he bins the wipes and pack the bandages into the first aid kit. Once everything is put away, Dipper drops onto his bean bag, pulls off his hat and falls asleep. 

It takes Bill 3 days to wake up completely. The first day, he wakes up delirious, so Dipper gives him a pain killer and some water and he goes back to sleep. The second day, he doesn't wake up at all. The third day, he wakes up with a fever and tries to get up. But Dipper forces him to stay in bed all day. The fourth day, he wakes up without a fever, so Dipper allows him to get up. "You've been asleep for three days Bill. You should eat something." Bill groans in protest. "Stupid meatsack body." Dipper laughs at him a little. "You chose to give yourself that body." Bill doesn't say anything, just sticks his tongue out at him and goes to stand up. As he does so he falls forwards a little so Dipper immediately helps him balance himself. Rather than make Bill walk all the way through the shack, he just keeps his hand on Bill's waist and snaps his fingers. Transporting them to the kitchen. "You're getting really good at that Dipper." Dipper blushes at Bill calling him his name and so instead busies himself looking through the cupboards. "I wouldn't advice you eat anything heavy, you'd probably just throw it back up." He holds up a loaf of bread. "Think you can handle some toast?" He teases. Bill rolls his eyes at him. "Yes _Mason_ I think I can handle some toast." He teases back, causing Dipper to glare at him. "If you weren't as injured as you are right now, you'd be covered in bread." Laughing, the Demon holds up his hands in mock surrender as Dipper moves to the toaster. 

The next week is filled with Mabel planning for their 18th birthday party. She, as usual, wants it to be the best birthday ever. However, she has learnt one thing over the years, which is that Dipper is _not _a party person. Because of this, she gives Dipper permission to stand at the edge of the party. When she informs Dipper of her decision, he laughs, bows and thanks her. 

When the day of the party arrives he forces a smile onto his face. Knowing that it would make his sister happy to see him smiling, even if she knows it's fake. He stands next to her 'happily' as they blow out their candles, even laughing at some of the gifts people got for her. One of which was a 'my first magic kit' from Bill. "Can't have one without the other, can we Shooting Star?" Mabel joins in with the laughter after only a second. Bill then holds out a slightly smaller bag. "I'm just kidding. This is you real gift." She pulls the first item out of the bag, which is a small glass bottle on a chain. Inside the bottle, is a pine tree and a shooting star. The second item is a book similar to Dipper's journal. But it's pink and the corners have been demolished in glitter. "I know you're not a big mystery person, but I figured you'd like it to resemble your brothers Journals." She opens the book to see that's it's a scrapbook. She flips through the empty pages for a second before looking up at Bill. "Thank you!" He nods his head at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. "No problem Shooting Star." She opens Pacifica's gift next. It's a bright pink dress with a purple ribbon around the waist. The shade of pink is so bright it can give you a headache just from looking at it, but Mabel clearly loves it so Dipper guesses he can forgive his sisters girlfriend for his forming headache. Mabel finishes opening the rest of her presents so Dipper can open his.

Most people never know what to get him so he usually ends up with a lot of gift cards and money. Not that he minds obviously. However his family, as well as a few others got him actual gifts. He opens Pacifica's gift first. Which is similar to Mabel's. It's a dark blue suit with a gold tie. "My family is having a party next month that you're invited to. I figured I'd buy your outfits to save you renting a used suit. At least this way you have something you know suits you." Dipper did have to admit that while he might not enjoy wearing fancy suits, that the colour of it is beautiful. The gold tie and purple ribbon don't escape his attention but he decides not to comment on it and thanks her for the suit instead. Bill then hands him a bag with three items inside it. The first is a necklace identical to Mabel's, which Dipper is sure Bill did to make Mabel happy, but the fact he thought of that makes him happy anyway. The second item was a new cap, identical in every way to the one he's currently wearing except the stitching and underside of the bill. The stitching is yellow and the bottom of the bill is gold. He replaces it with his current cap and smiles when it fits perfectly. The last item in the bag is a book that looks _much _older than himself. Picking it up he looks between the book and Bill, before settling his eyes on Bill. "Well I could just share every spell I know with you, but I know you love stuff like this. So this way you can translate it all yourself." Dipper beams up at Bill happily. "Thank you!" Bill smiles down at him. "You're welcome." He says, sounding happy with himself. 

_'After all. What kind of Demon would I be if I didn't make my Balancer happy?'_

Dipper doesn't respond and rolls his eyes at him, flipping through a few pages of the book instead. 

An hour or two into the party and Dipper is making use of Mabel's acceptance of him not taking part and is stood at the side, leaning against a thick tree watching Bill dance. That is until a group of four red robed men crash the party. The leader of the group steps forwards and grabs Bill's wrist harshly. While everyone else was staring at the party crashes and who they had grabbed, Dipper teleports to Bill's side. He grabs the man's own wrist very tightly. "I would advise that you let him go." Ford realises that Balancer inside Dipper has awakened at the sight of the men who kidnapped Bill, and knows that he would stop at almost nothing to protect him right now. Silently but quickly, he starts moving people away and onto the sidelines. When the man doesn't move or let go of Bill's wrist, he digs his nails in. When the man still doesn't pull away, he digs them in harder, drawing blood. Making use of the man's instinctual flinch he pulls Bill's wrist out of his grip and pulls him behind himself. The man hasn't moved back very far though, which Dipper doesn't like. Dipper takes a step closer to Bill protectively. "Take back the Demon. Try and get his Balancer top, but if he causes too much trouble...." He turns back to Dipper. "Kill him." Mabel shouts out to the man and tries to walk forwards but Stan and Pacifica hold her back. Dipper however, doesn't even flinch at his words, to preoccupied with making sure they don't take Bill from him again. "Do you really think that I'll let you take him from me again?" Bill takes a step closer ready to help him, Dipper turns his head slightly. "If you get kidnapped again Cipher, I'll kill you myself." Bill nods in understanding. "Got it." The leader laughs loudly as his men start inching towards the two. "I don't need to be near him to take him. I can do it from where I am now." Dipper growls at him as he starts chanting something before thinking over his words. "The Zodiac!" he turns around to face Bill, only to see him lying on the ground on his side, he can already see blood seeping through his shirt. Activating the Zodiac hurts him. Activating the Zodiac hurts him! But more importantly these fuckers think they can hurt _his _Demon and get away with it. They think that they can take him away from him again. Angrier than he's ever been in his life, Dipper turns around to glare at the leader. He starts a fire in front of the other three to stop them advancing any further. "You fucking monsters! Is this for your own pleasure or what? Activating the Zodiac hurts him!" The man glances down at Bill distastefully. "Does it? Well that's a shame. It would have been more effective had we had the time to finish it. But I suppose this is bearable." The man stares at Dipper coldly, Dipper stares back. 

Taking a step closer to Bill he repeats his earlier question. "So how do you suppose this has made it easier for you to take him? Because all you've done is hurt him and piss me off. You are nowhere near close enough to grab him, and I fucking promise you this. You won't get close enough. So do you really think you can take him from me?" The three men wait for their leader's answers. "Yes I do." The three men begin moving again. Two of them he keeps in place with a circle of fire. The third, he lifted up throwing him into the ring of fire with the other two. From Bill's position on the floor, he can see that Dippers eyes are glowing. One blue one yellow. When the leader starts walking towards the two, Dipper growls at him and takes a steps in front of Bill. They stop when they're just under arms length away. "Last chance. Leave now." The leader laughs and shakes his head. "I think not." Dipper calmly places a hand on the mans shoulder and almost immediately afterwards his robe catches fire. Dipper drops his hand down to his side as he tries to put out the fire. Upon realising that he can't put it out, he turns back to Dipper silently pleading with him. "Stay away from _my _ Demon." He nods quickly so Dipper puts out the fire and holds his hand back out, Bill's signature blue flame burning on the end. "Let's make a deal. Leave now and stay away from Bill Cipher forever and I'll let you leave without any further interference." The leader grabs Dipper's hand after a second of thinking. "Just know that if you break this deal, you'll be punished and I don't even have to know you've broken it." As he lets go of the mans hand, he levitates the three men over to him. He glares at the men until they leave the area. Once they turn to leave, his eyes stop glowing and turn to his usual brown and he turns to Bill quickly. "Bill!" He kneels beside him and checks his back. Luckily the blood seems to have stopped again. But he still wants to check it anyway. He helps him stand up slowly, As he does so he hears Wendy whistle loudly from the sidelines. From that other people start applauding him. He blushes under all the attention and teleports to his room instead of walking to the shack. 

He sits Bill on his bed and turns to the first aid kit. "Shirt." Bill complies silently and only once Dipper closes the first aid and turns back to him does he speak. "Thank you Dipper." Dipper smiles at him softly, undoing Bill's bandages. "You're welcome Bill." As he starts re-wrapping Bill's chest, Bill feels his cheeks flush slightly with how close Dipper is to him. But it does make him feel better though, when he notices that Dipper's cheeks are much redder than his own. "Seems you really have settled into your role as my Balancer well. You were awesome back there." Dipper flushes deeper at the compliment. "Well I guess that is what I'm for." Bill watches him for a second. "Hey Pinetree. Come here for a second." Dipper takes a step closer. Rolling his eyes at Dipper's actions, Bill points a finger at the space in front of him. "No you idiot. Here." Dipper takes a few steps closer to him and Bill starts standing up. Dipper immediately helps him steady himself. Bill places his hands on Dipper's waist, smirking when Dipper starts blushing again. "I love you Pinetree." He closes the gap between them, pulling away after a second. "I love you too, Cipher. You're my Demon and I swear, no one will ever take you away from me again." He leans up to bring Bill in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around the blondes neck, Bill happily reciprocates, tightening his grip on the brunettes waist. They pull away when they hear a squeal and a camera snap come from the door. Dipper groans as he turns to see Mabel holding up her phone, grinning like a mad man. "I never miss a scrapbook opportunity!" Dipper laughs slightly before forcing the door closed on her. She gasps jokingly on the other side before laughing and walking away. Dipper kisses Bill once more, before pulling away and snapping them back to the party. Knowing Mabel would be upset if he ditched the rest of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end I had fun writing this so I hope you had fun reading it


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